Apartments boost building consents

A spike in building consents for more than 400 apartments
nationwide underpinned a 1.5% gain in overall building
consent numbers for April, which otherwise would have been
down 5.2%.

In April, 2082 new dwellings were consented, including 432
apartments, the third time in six months new apartment
numbers have been beyond 400, according to Statistics New
Zealand data released yesterday.

Of the 432 apartments, 35%, or 156, were retirement village
units.

While Auckland, Canterbury and Waikato's total 1512 consents
accounted for 72% of the country's total, consents south of
Christchurch were flat at 87 and made up barely 4% of the
total.

Dunedin consents from April last year fell from 61 to 26,
Queenstown/Lakes rose from 35 to 43, Central Otago gained
from 11 to 13 and Waitaki went from four to five.

ASB economist Christina Leung said beyond the monthly
volatility, and otherwise 5.2% decline, the trend remained
one of stronger house-building demand.

''In particular, there was a further surge in dwelling
consents issued in Auckland,'' she said.

Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said while the
underlying data was weaker, it was within the range of
expectations, given the potential negative effect of the long
Easter to Anzac Day break.

''We expect that the strong upward trend in home building
activity will reassert itself in the May numbers,'' Mr Gordon
said.

Ms Leung estimated Auckland dwelling consents increased 18.4%
in April on a seasonally-adjusted basis, while Auckland
consents totalled 6795 for the year to April.

However, the Auckland tally to date was still below the 9000
houses ASB estimated would need to be built in each of the
next couple of years to keep up with population growth.

Despite the small Canterbury dwelling consent decline of 3.2%
in April, the trend indicated the earthquake rebuild remained
on track, Ms Leung said.

Earthquake-related consents totalled $74 million in April, of
which $63 million was for residential building work, with $11
million for commercial building work, she said.

Consents
Top three areas for April building consents.
-Auckland, 697, including 241 apartments.
Canterbury, 554, including 40 apartments.
Waikato, 261, including 69 apartments.
(Dunedin, Queenstown/Lakes, Central Otago, Waitaki, 87)
April - total $1.1 billion of building work consented; $739
million residential and $401 million commercial.Source: Statistics NZ